Dropped Calls: Measurement,

Perception, and Policies

M. Andrea Martens
March 12, 2008
 Consumers care about quality
THERE ARE DIFFERENT WAYS TO MEASURE QUALITY
AT A GIVEN PRICE

• Frequency of dropped calls

• Disruptiveness of call problems (i.e. in an emergency)
• Call clarity
• Connection speed
 Dropped calls are a common quality
measure
QUALITY IS FREQUENTLY ADVERTISED IN TERMS OF
DROPPED CALLS
 …yet the way in which they are
measured is unclear
WHERE DO THE DROPPED CALL DATA COME FROM?

• Surveys
• Actual call data
• Complaints
• Geographic coverage?
• Time period?
• Selection of consumers?
 The most widely quoted measure is
from J.D. Power
WIRELESS CALL QUALITY PERFORMANCE STUDY

• Semi-annual survey
• Sample: 25,000 wireless users
• Number of customer-reported problems experienced per
100 calls with:
1. Dropped/disconnected calls
2. Static/Interference
3. Failed connection on first try
4. Voice distortion
5. Echoes
6. No immediate voice mail notification
7. No immediate text message notification
 Other national measures are from
Consumer Reports and from FCC
THESE MEASURES ARE BASED ON SURVEYS OR ARE
SELF-REPORTED

• Annual Survey of Cell-Phone Service (Consumer

Reports)
– Frequency problem

• Quarterly Inquiries and Complaints Report:

– Bias problem
There are also dropped calls measures of
smaller geographic coverage

STUDY BASED ON ACTUAL CALL DATA IN HOUSTON

FROM MINDWIRELESS

• Dropped call: call from a cellular device to another

wireless device or landline placed within two minutes
of a prior call to the same destination, with no call
between. Voicemail & Nextel push-to-talk calls were
excluded.
• Data from 80 million calls placed in the Houston area
between January 1, 2006 and June 30, 2006.
 There debate about the right way to
measure dropped calls has reached the
courts
CINGULAR LAW SUIT
• Kaltwasser: Cingular misrepresented the findings made
by Telephia, a data provider for the telecommunications
industry
• Cingular conducted a widespread ad campaign based on
what it claimed was a study by Telephia that rated
Cingular as having the fewest dropped calls of any
wireless carrier in the country
• Kaltwasser v. Cingular Wireless LLC, No. 07-0411,
complaint filed (N.D. Cal. Jan. 22, 2007).
 ..and there is a proposal in Senate to
make this information more transparent
SENATOR AMY KLOBUCHAR INTRODUCED
LEGISLATION REQUIRING

– Prorated cell-phone service termination fees

– Public disclosure of the incidence of dropped calls
and coverage gaps by location.
 How much do dropped calls really
matter to consumer?
ANALYZING THE INFLUENCE OF QUALITY ON
DEMAND:
• How do dropped calls influence adoption (first choice)?
• How do dropped calls influence switching between
providers?
• How does the attribution of cause of dropped calls
matter? For example, New Year’s Eve, top of mountain,
versus failure of network, handset?
• Randomness of dropped call?
• Industry statistics of dropped calls versus consumers’
perception of dropped calls?
• Quality and competition?
 WE FACE DATA ANDE
MEASUREMENT CHALLENGES
THE MAIN EMPIRICAL PROBLEMS ARE ABOUT
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
• How do people form beliefs about quality? Word of
mouth versus official ratings?
• How to measure demand? Number of subscribers?
Usage? Number of users versus number of calls made?
How to measure demand?
 POTENTIAL ESTIMATION
TECHNIQUES
SURVIVAL ANALYSIS AND PROBIT ANALYSIS
• Ideally: How much would you be willing to pay for one
less dropped call?
• Probability of switching given the number of dropped
calls that encountered?
• Probability of dissatisfaction (reporting problems) given
demographic characteristics and objective measures that
should influence dropped calls
• FCC data As part of its ongoing efforts to
promote air safety, the Federal
Communications Commission requires
owners to register certain antenna
structures (generally those more than
60.96 meters (200 feet) in height or
located near an airport) with the
Commission.
 How to estimate the influence of
dropped calls on consumers’ behavior?
EMPIRICAL IMPLEMENTATION DEPENDS ON DATA
AVAILABILITY ON CALL QUALITY AND CONSUMER
BEHAVIOR
• JD Power quality ratings: Estimate how demand
depends on those ratings? Actual call data and
subscriber behavior
• Base station information, topography, and weather data:
construct quality indicators by geographic area and
compare with responses by people that were surveyed.
• Number portability? May 24, 2004
• Use complaints to FCC data?